--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think being condemned to death is the…" description: "\"I think being condemned to death is the only real distinction,\" said Mathilde. \"It is the only thing which cannot be bought.\" — Stendhal" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63f/stendhal-1379_condemned_i-think-being-condemned-to-death-is-the_2560122.jpg" --- # I think being condemned to death is the only real… ![“I think being condemned to death is the only real distinction," said Mathilde. "It is the only thing which cannot be bought.” quote by Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63f/stendhal-1379_condemned_i-think-being-condemned-to-death-is-the_2560122.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63f/stendhal-1379_condemned_i-think-being-condemned-to-death-is-the_2560122.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63f/stendhal-1379_condemned_i-think-being-condemned-to-death-is-the_2560122.jpg) > “I think being condemned to death is the only real distinction," said Mathilde. "It is the only thing which cannot be bought.” [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Facing death reveals the one true, unbuyable distinction of life **In simple terms:** Death is the ultimate, unattainable difference Key Takeaway Recognize mortality as a unique human experience Themes existence death value Mood somber introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal crisis - literary analysis - morality debates - life coaching Key Concepts philosophy ethics Questions to Reflect On - What does mortality teach you about priorities? - How can this perspective shape daily choices? 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It's a lot more than a mindless action flick.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stone-cold-steve-austin/i-think-the-condemned-has-a-great-story-it-s-a-lot-more-than-a/) [Stone Cold Steve Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stone-cold-steve-austin/) > [“It is said that men condemned to death are subject to sudden moments of elation; as if, like moths in the fire, their destruction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-le-carre/it-is-said-that-men-condemned-to-death-are-subject-to-sudden-moments/) [John le Carré](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-le-carre/) > [Let us imagine a number of men in chains and all condemned to death, where some are killed each day in the sight of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/let-us-imagine-a-number-of-men-in-chains-and-all-condemned-to-death/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [“So there was no excuse; nothing whatever the matter, except the sin for which human nature had condemned him to death; that he did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/so-there-was-no-excuse-nothing-whatever-the-matter-except-the-sin-for/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [Death is the only real elegance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zelda-fitzgerald/death-is-the-only-real-elegance/) [Zelda Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zelda-fitzgerald/) > [“I've always been super aware that we could all die at any moment. This ceiling could fall. I could trip and land on this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-af-venable/i-ve-always-been-super-aware-that-we-could-all-die-at-any-moment-this/) [Colleen AF Venable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-af-venable/) > [Love your moms to death real talk…you'll miss em when their gone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-dean/love-your-moms-to-death-real-talk-you-ll-miss-em-when-their-gone/) [Mario Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-dean/) > [“Never trust a man who teaches about death but yet had no real experience at all about it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toba-beta/never-trust-a-man-who-teaches-about-death-but-yet-had-no-real/) [Toba Beta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toba-beta/) > [Death is as real as life and everyone will face it some day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mumtaz/death-is-as-real-as-life-and-everyone-will-face-it-some-day/) [Mumtaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mumtaz/) > [Life can only be enjoyed as one acquires a true perspective of life and death and of the real purpose of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spiros-zodhiates/life-can-only-be-enjoyed-as-one-acquires-a-true-perspective-of-life/) [Spiros Zodhiates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spiros-zodhiates/) > [There is no freedom, we're tied to something in someway. Death is the real freedom without being tied to anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-limn/there-is-no-freedom-we-re-tied-to-something-in-someway-death-is-the/) [Jeremy Limn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-limn/) > [I am stigmatized by a living death in which real death holds no terrors for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonin-artaud/i-am-stigmatized-by-a-living-death-in-which-real-death-holds-no/) [Antonin Artaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonin-artaud/) > [Death is real. Death changes things. Everything else is filler, merely a message from our sponsor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-marshall-smith/death-is-real-death-changes-things-everything-else-is-filler-merely-a/) [Michael Marshall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-marshall-smith/) > [All the characters I've played so far mean a lot to me, but I think Young-hee of After My Death' was a real turning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeon-yeo-been/all-the-characters-i-ve-played-so-far-mean-a-lot-to-me-but-i-think/) [Jeon Yeo-been](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeon-yeo-been/) > [Everyone is so afraid of death, but the real sufis just laugh: nothing tyrannizes their hearts. What strikes the oyster shell does not damage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/everyone-is-so-afraid-of-death-but-the-real-sufis-just-laugh-nothing/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) ## More by Stendhal > [At a distance, we cannot conceive of the authority of a despot who knows all his subjects on sight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/at-a-distance-we-cannot-conceive-of-the-authority-of-a-despot-who/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [The pleasures and the cares of the luckiest ambition, even of limitless power, are nothing next to the intimate happiness that tenderness and love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/the-pleasures-and-the-cares-of-the-luckiest-ambition-even-of/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [The more a race is governed by its passions, the less it has acquired the habit of cautious and reasoned argument, the more intense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/the-more-a-race-is-governed-by-its-passions-the-less-it-has-acquired/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [The tyranny of public opinion (and what an opinion!) is as fatuous in the small towns of France as it is in the United…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/the-tyranny-of-public-opinion-and-what-an-opinion-is-as-fatuous-in/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [In love, unlike most other passions, the recollection of what you have had and lost is always better than what you can hope for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/in-love-unlike-most-other-passions-the-recollection-of-what-you-have/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [“The footman burst in, announcing, 'Monsieur le Duc de ---.' 'Hold your tongue, you fool,' said the Duke as he entered the room. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/the-footman-burst-in-announcing-monsieur-le-duc-de-hold-your-tongue/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [Signs cannot be represented, in a spy's report, so damningly as words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/signs-cannot-be-represented-in-a-spy-s-report-so-damningly-as-words/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [“If you think of paying court to those in power, your eternal ruin is assured.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/if-you-think-of-paying-court-to-those-in-power-your-eternal-ruin-is/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [Your career will be a painful one. I divine something in you which offends the vulgar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/your-career-will-be-a-painful-one-i-divine-something-in-you-which/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [On a cold winter morning a cigar fortifies the soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/on-a-cold-winter-morning-a-cigar-fortifies-the-soul/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [A forty-year-old woman is only something to men who have loved her in her youth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/a-forty-year-old-woman-is-only-something-to-men-who-have-loved-her-in/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [Perhaps men who cannot love passionately are those who feel the effect of beauty most keenly; at any rate this is the strongest impression…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/perhaps-men-who-cannot-love-passionately-are-those-who-feel-the/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [Who knows whether it is not true that phosphorus and mind are not the same thing?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/who-knows-whether-it-is-not-true-that-phosphorus-and-mind-are-not-the/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [“Could anything possibly be more humorous than believing in the depth or in the depravity of the Parisian character?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/could-anything-possibly-be-more-humorous-than-believing-in-the-depth/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [The idea which tyrants find most useful is the idea of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/the-idea-which-tyrants-find-most-useful-is-the-idea-of-god/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) [Explore all 184 Stendhal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) ## More Condemned quotes > [Whatever is not commonly seen is condemned as alien.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-chang/whatever-is-not-commonly-seen-is-condemned-as-alien/) [Iris Chang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-chang/) > [“And that’s the terrible myth of organized society. That everything that’s done through the established system is legal. And that word has a powerful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-m-kunstler/and-that-s-the-terrible-myth-of-organized-society-that-everything/) [William M. Kunstler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-m-kunstler/) > [I think 'The Condemned' has a great story. It's a lot more than a mindless action flick.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stone-cold-steve-austin/i-think-the-condemned-has-a-great-story-it-s-a-lot-more-than-a/) [Stone Cold Steve Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stone-cold-steve-austin/) > [At the end of our lives, we go before one judge, and the crimes you committed and man allowed you to walk free is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rashida-rowe/at-the-end-of-our-lives-we-go-before-one-judge-and-the-crimes-you/) [Rashida Rowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rashida-rowe/) > [“It is said that men condemned to death are subject to sudden moments of elation; as if, like moths in the fire, their destruction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-le-carre/it-is-said-that-men-condemned-to-death-are-subject-to-sudden-moments/) [John le Carré](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-le-carre/) > [In the early days of the Russian Revolution in 1917, I was completely in sympathy with it. I felt that it established a new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chiang-kai-shek/in-the-early-days-of-the-russian-revolution-in-1917-i-was-completely/) [Chiang Kai-shek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chiang-kai-shek/) > [“Those who do not learn the lessons of the past are condemned to repeat it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/those-who-do-not-learn-the-lessons-of-the-past-are-condemned-to/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [Let us imagine a number of men in chains and all condemned to death, where some are killed each day in the sight of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/let-us-imagine-a-number-of-men-in-chains-and-all-condemned-to-death/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [He who cannot remember the past is condemned to remember the past. Or something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-palin/he-who-cannot-remember-the-past-is-condemned-to-remember-the-past-or/) [Sarah Palin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-palin/) > [It disturbs me when Obama says in the State of the Union address that he wants to make dropping out of school at 18…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-miller/it-disturbs-me-when-obama-says-in-the-state-of-the-union-address-that/) [Ezra Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-miller/) > [“Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does. It is up to you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/man-is-condemned-to-be-free-because-once-thrown-into-the-world-he-is/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [Jesus condemned no one except hypocrites.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kallistos-ware/jesus-condemned-no-one-except-hypocrites/) [Kallistos Ware](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kallistos-ware/) > [“Release is not the same as liberation. You get out of jail, all right, but you never stop being condemned.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/release-is-not-the-same-as-liberation-you-get-out-of-jail-all-right/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“So there was no excuse; nothing whatever the matter, except the sin for which human nature had condemned him to death; that he did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/so-there-was-no-excuse-nothing-whatever-the-matter-except-the-sin-for/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“Condemned by your people. Opened the second. Condemned by yourself. Opened the third. To see who you were. Opened the fourth. To see who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-n-holmberg/condemned-by-your-people-opened-the-second-condemned-by-yourself/) [Charlie N. Holmberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-n-holmberg/) [Browse all 109 Condemned quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/condemned/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I think being condemned to death is the only real distinction,\" said Mathilde. \"It is the only thing which cannot be bought.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Stendhal" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/i-think-being-condemned-to-death-is-the-only-real-distinction-said/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Condemned" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/i-think-being-condemned-to-death-is-the-only-real-distinction-said/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63f/stendhal-1379_condemned_i-think-being-condemned-to-death-is-the_2560122.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63f/stendhal-1379_condemned_i-think-being-condemned-to-death-is-the_2560122.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63f/stendhal-1379_condemned_i-think-being-condemned-to-death-is-the_2560122.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I think being condemned to death is the only real distinction,\" said Mathilde. \"It is the only thing which…” — Stendhal", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Stendhal", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I think being condemned to death...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/i-think-being-condemned-to-death-is-the-only-real-distinction-said/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/i-think-being-condemned-to-death-is-the-only-real-distinction-said/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```